Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 861, page 08.860: 'The Courage to Slay the Dragon'

"The enemy is 1,500 kilometers away from our fleet and has entered firing range!" Commander Bird's voice rang out on the bridge.

The holographic data stream before him was flowing continuously across the cold array of thinkers, each pulsating red rune foreshadowing impending death.

"Full fleet, maintain silence! Do not fire!" Louise's voice echoed across the bridge of every escort ship through the command channel. She strictly followed the captain's orders, ensuring the implementation of every command. "Wait until mid-range for a saturation torpedo salvo!"

"Halt! The officer is here!" With a loud command, rows of soldiers in black and red armor assembled on the command bridge like a moving steel wall.

The soldiers in black armor are naval security personnel directly under the Military Inspection Department. In the Gothic Fleet, they are mainly drawn from the Loyalty Storm Legion and only obey the command of the Military Inspection Committee. They are the only formal armed force on the ship that is independent of the Imperial Navy's command system, and in principle, the only unit authorized to be fully armed and stationed on the bridge. This is also to prevent a mutinous captain from easily commanding armed sailors to control the bridge.

Those wearing red armor were naval infantrymen. As part of the Hong Kong garrison defense forces, they would also be drawn onto ships to serve as guards for senior officers and warship guards. Their function was equivalent to "naval military police"—supervising armed sailors, especially those "children of the void" who were born from the void and had unstable minds.

People tend to attribute all misfortune to the Void Children born during warp travel.

But the Imperial Navy has no choice but to rely on them—as long as they reproduce in the void, a large number of Void Children will inevitably be produced.

They constituted the main force of the armed sailors.

Although those who become armed sailors undergo careful selection and political vetting, the Imperial Navy still has to guard against the continued influence of the warp on the minds of the Voidborn—the whispers of chaos that linger in their ears could corrupt the minds of even the most loyal.

Therefore, a defensive force composed entirely of pure-blooded humans selected from stable anchor planets and born on solid ground is particularly necessary.

Farida completed the final armed deployment. At this moment, the command bridge was surrounded by layers upon layers of cold human walls—this was almost the entire security force on the flagship, prepared to deal with the upcoming, unprecedented high-intensity military conflict.

The soldiers' strong chests formed the new and final barrier on the warship.

"One thousand kilometers!" Bird's long shout caused the entire wall of people to instantly turn their gaze toward the source of the sound.

"Hold on!" Henry Harvey raised his clenched fist. Although his heart was already burning with the flames of revenge, he still strictly obeyed the captain's orders, waiting for the best opportunity to attack.

Nine thousand void units, or approximately 962.1 kilometers, is the theoretical medium-range artillery range of the Imperial Navy, and also the deadly range at which torpedoes exert their maximum effectiveness.

"First batch of combat units, torpedo compartment sliding doors open!" Horatio took a deep breath and gave the order.

The USS Swift Eagle itself did not participate in the first round of torpedo attacks, but the distant attack ships and the three Scimitar-class escort ships had already silently opened the sliding covers of their bow torpedo compartments.

The void was in a suffocating, calm before the storm.

"May the Divine Emperor grant us courage, determination, and perseverance." On the bridge of the attack ship E-103, Lieutenant Commander Pierre Dumanault-le-Pelli, an outstanding officer selected from the Callisi fleet, stood before his command post, offering his final pre-battle prayer: "Callicis and the Gothic fleet will surely tear apart your alien plots, break your claws, and snap your fangs!"

Behind him, a huge eagle sculpture gripped a banner with the words "Glory, Motherland, Heroism, Discipline" tightly in its claws.

This is an ancient maxim of the Imperial Navy's Calicus Fleet: "Enemy fleet has reached medium-range artillery range!"

"Fire the torpedoes in salvo! Open fire!"

On board the attack ship E-99, Lieutenant Commander Kretschmer saw deadly flames erupting from the bow of his friendly ship E-103, and he immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fire!!!"

Eighteen plasma torpedoes were launched simultaneously within seconds of each other, creating a vast, burning trail of death in the void as they sped toward the distant darkness.

The intense flames from the torpedo's tail temporarily dispelled the gloom over the airspace.

They forged ahead relentlessly, and the void along their path even distorted in an unusual, water-like way due to their powerful energy field.

Just as the torpedoes were launched, streaks of purple light suddenly flashed in the darkness in the distance! One after another, alien warships, elegant yet deadly in shape like poison hairpins, spewed eerie flames and performed a short-range phase flash in the void.

The shadowy force field that disguised them vanished in the blink of an eye, and the menacing enemy ships were clearly exposed before everyone's eyes.

But almost at the same moment, countless scythe-like missiles with purple trails roared from the enemy ships that had appeared and were fired at the Imperial Navy escort fleet that had already been exposed!

"Enemy missiles are attacking!"

"Void Shield activated!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Countless energy explosions, flashing with a vicious deep purple, rippled violently across the pale blue void shields that the five escort ships had just erected.

"Their missiles are extremely fast. Our Void Shields can intercept them, but the firepower is too dense! If this continues, we won't be able to hold out for long!" A power department lieutenant serving on the "Salokan Lion" reported anxiously through an encrypted channel.

The combined fire of an enemy battleship, four slave ships, and seven or eight raiding ships almost instantly overloaded the Void Shield energy readings of the five escort ships.

Soon, it won't be long before they'll have to rely on the ship's fragile terracotta armor to withstand these vicious missiles.

Just as everyone was in a panic, a huge Imperial Sky Eagle, burning with golden flames, came from a higher dimension of space, like a messenger descended by a god, and resolutely charged towards the enemy fleet!
That was the "Swift Eagle"! The huge golden eagle emblem on her bow, a symbol of imperial glory, was shining with an unprecedented brilliance.

Horatio has devoted all of the warship's energy to the propulsion system and the void shield.

Like a drawn sword of vengeance, she ignored the surrounding hail of bullets and launched a desperate charge towards the enemy fleet that was scattering and desperately trying to intercept torpedoes!
Her only goal was that massive, mountain-like shadow at the very center of the formation.

At this moment, the "Swift Eagle" was like Saint George, the knight in mythology who slew the dragon. One man and one horse, the brave warrior charged fearlessly toward the evil dragon from the abyss that was spewing deathly flames.

(End of this chapter)